Hakkinen re-signs with Mercedes

The 37 year-old came out of retirement to race in the DTM this season and finished fifth in the series and won only his third race at Spa Francorchamps. He also scored one pole position and three fastest race laps.

The German manufacturer have now announced that Hakkinen, who left F1 at the end of 2001, will continue his touring car career with them.

Hakkinen said he did not have to deliberate long to decided whether to stay in the series.

"Mercedes-Benz and HWA are a fantastic team," he said. "From the very beginning, everybody supported me very well and I felt really comfortable. Winning my third DTM race at Spa was the highlight of my season and I want to continue winning races next year.

"In my opinion, the DTM is the best touring car series in the world with close fights for every tenth of a second which I like a lot. As I know from many encounters in the paddock, the fans like it, too. There is no other top racing series offering the spectators such a big return on their money and I'm happy to be part of it again in 2006."

Norbert Haug, vice president of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport said that it was always part of their plan to sign up the former McLaren driver for more than one season.

"We are very happy that Mika will race again with an AMG-Mercedes C-Class in the DTM next year," Haug said. "After his comeback he got used to his new series quick and won his third race, held on such a challenging circuit like Spa-Francorchamps.

"We had always planned that Mika will stay in the DTM for more than one year, therefore it's great to get his confirmation."

His preparations for the new season begin with a test session today at Barcelona.